Medvedev denies reason for a new "cold war" between Russia and the U.S.

Feb 26 2013

RBTH

Interfax

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has denied the existence of any serious reasons for the possible start of a "cold war" between Russia and the United States.

"There is no "cold war," and there are no conditions for it," Medvedev said in an interview with Brazil's television network Globo. "But relations between the countries could grow tense from time to time. It depends on the administration and the government teams that are in power. It also depends on the stance pursued by legislators."

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In the interview, the Russian premier also offered his comment on the U.S. Magnitsky Act and its influence on Russia's investment climate.

"I tell you that this topic is totally politicized and far-fetched, as we call it. It is a situation where a previously existing document, an anti-Soviet document [the Jackson-Vanik amendment] has been replaced by a document of an obviously anti-Russian nature," Medvedev said.

"So far, it does not mean anything, but, regrettably, individual adventurers circling around this topic took advantage of the quite complicated situation in one person's life in order to pursue their political and commercial goals. It has nothing to do with us personally, but, to my regret, it puts a strain on our relations with the U.S., which we would not like to happen," he said.

"Any serious, significant reasons for a "cold war" are absent," he said.

"On the contrary, today we are capable of jointly tackling a wide variety of tasks. And we are tackling them," Medvedev said.